Workshop Descriptions

Main conference fee does not include pre-conference intensives; see registration info page for fees.

Oneness Deeksha Intensive (A01)
Arjuna Ardagh, MA
Deeksha is the transmission of divine energy through touch that, when sustained for several minutes, allows the energy to flow from the practitioner to the recipient. As the energy moves, the brain stem and parietal lobes quiet and the frontal lobes are strengthened, providing a neurological foundation for stillness, presence, causeless joy, and a feeling of “oneness” with everything. Deeksha can be used to enhance physical healing, greater intimacy in relationship, material well-being, and as a means to spontaneously awaken into oneness. In this intensive you have an opportunity to discover why this simple technology has captivated the interest of the world and ask questions of a facilitator who has recently completed a book and documentary film on the subject. You are guided through a number of deeply transformative processes, and every participant receives deeksha from an experienced practitioner. CE credit available.

Bodies of Knowledge: Yoga & the Three Realms of Consciousness (A02)
Seane Corn
Fearlessness aligns truth with confidence, and wisdom with compassion. In this vinyasa flow yoga intensive, we explore the three realms of consciousness: the physical/mental; the energetic/emotional; and the psychic/symbolic. Through asana, chakra exploration, meditation, reflection, and prayer, we create a ritualistic journey integrating the mystical into the practical as we bond our body, mind, and spirit. We learn how self-confidence is the necessary tool for intuitive work, how our thoughts influence the health of our bodies, and how to use our bodies to create a cosmic relationship with spirit and the world around us. The intention of this workshop, which is suitable for all levels, is to reconnect us to our bodies, gain emotional insight, explore our soul's purpose, and cultivate skills to assist each other and the planet we inhabit. CE credit available.

The Secret of the Shadow: Exploiting Your Past for Personal Power & Gain (A03)
Debbie Ford
The way you feel about yourself in the privacy of your own thoughts shows up in the quality of your relationships, the level of financial success you attain, and the amount of love, health, vitality, laughter, and joy you experience in your day-to-day life. What if the key to unlocking your authentic power lies hidden in your shadow? What if the key to opening your heart deeply to love, and finding the confidence to go after everything you want in life lies in your ability to embrace the aspects of yourself that you previously rejected, consciously or unconsciously, out of shame, disapproval, and fear? This extraordinary intensive is based on Debbie Ford's renowned Shadow Process workshop, where thousands of individuals have embraced and integrated aspects of themselves that they spent years struggling to hide. CE credit available.

Love & Fearlessness in an Age of Terror (A04)
Andrew Harvey
The world is in crisis, but we can respond in a profoundly powerful way to preserve and transform our planet. In this intensive we explore the new vision of what Andrew Harvey calls “sacred activism,” the fusion of mystical knowledge, stamina, and peace with focused, wise, and radical action. Using the widely acclaimed documentary, Sacred Activism, as a guide, we discover the five kinds of service and the seven laws of sacred activism. We also learn practices to keep us grounded, strong, calm, courageous, and centered in difficult situations.

Living With Wisdom & Courage in Fearful Times (A05)
Sam Keen, PhD
How can we heal our cultural psyche? Can we invent new myths for new times? What roles do spiritual discipline, solitude, reverence, gratitude, silence, protest, and resistance play? Is there a way to face evil while still maintaining a balanced hope and preserving a sense of communion with all beings? How can our creative agony transform the world? Through dialogue and conversation we examine how spiritual practice can help us on our quest for justice. CE credit available.

Entering the Castle: Discovering the Companionship of Your Soul (A06)
Caroline Myss
The great mystic Teresa of Avila led the way into the soul in the 16th century with her magnificent work, The Interior Castle. A mystical Renaissance is in progress within our culture, calling people to discover the rich treasures that accompany an intimate relationship with the Divine while remaining outside monastic communities. Mystics changed the world through the power of their souls—through prayer, through channeling grace, through courageous inner journeys of revelation that led them to universal truths. Today that calling is ours to follow. This intensive is modeled after the great work of Teresa. Caroline Myss takes Teresa's template and gives it a contemporary voice, appropriate for today's mystic without a monastery. Many people are being called to discover the power of their soul and to enter into their interior castle; in such times of chaos, heaven has always sent great mystics to light the way.

Shapeshifting to Higher Consciousness (A07)
John Perkins
Many indigenous cultures have known the art of shapeshifting—the actual transformation of a human being into another living creature. Lakota Sioux warriors shapeshift into buffalo and Andean shamans transform into plants from the jungle to learn their healing powers. In this intensive, John Perkins explores with us these ancient shamanic practices and shows how anyone can achieve a true unity with all things. Perkins has traveled and worked with master shamans around the world for 30 years. He teaches us the three levels of shapeshifting: cellular (transforming into animals, healing cancers); personal (opening to the divine self, dropping addictions); and institutional (changing organizations and cultures). We learn skills that help us break through barriers, access our inner powers, vibrate at increased cellular frequencies, invoke arutam (the fifth shapeshifter's element), and soar to new levels of consciousness.

Acts of Faith: Discovering Your Soul's Purpose (A08)
Iyanla Vanzant
How do we connect with the Divine so we are lovingly sustained and protected, no matter what life throws at us? How do we move past our personal blockages, fears, and hurts so that we can become the perfect creators and healers that we're intended to be? One way past these obstacles is by an act of faith, both in ourselves and in our connection to something greater. With meditation, prayer, and inspiring examples from her own life, Iyanla Vanzant shows us how to make this leap. CE credit available.

Day of Enlightenment (A09)
James Van Praagh, Brian Weiss, MD
Spend a day with two world-renowned experts on life before birth and after death. James Van Praagh is a medium and author of several best-selling books, including Talking to Heaven: A Medium's Message of Life After Death. Brian Weiss astonished the world of psychiatry more than a decade ago with the theories of past-life regression documented in his book, Many Lives, Many Masters. Coming together for this unique and transformative intensive, Van Praagh and Weiss offer us an opportunity to participate in a variety of group exercises designed to expand our consciousness, develop our psychic abilities, experience past-life regressions and inner states of deep relaxation, and help us receive healing and loving messages from loved ones in the spirit world.

Welcome and Opening Keynotes
Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, Bobby McFerrin, Elizabeth Lesser, Al Gore, Jane Goodall
Friday Evening Welcome
Elizabeth Lesser, Stephan Rechtschaffen and Bobby McFerrin
Omega is renowned for its ability to create a supportive community—an easy place to meet friends and feel at home. Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of Omega will coweave the evening's events with innovative musician Bobby McFerrin.

Keynote
Al Gore
An Inconvenient Truth
As with individuals, nations succeed or fail—and define their essential character—by the way they challenge the unknown and cope with fear. —Vice President Al Gore

Our climate crisis may appear to be happening slowly, but in fact it is happening very quickly--and has become a true planetary emergency. The Chinese expression for crisis consists of two characters. The first is a symbol for danger; the second is a symbol for opportunity. If we shrink from danger out of fear, we miss the opportunity to wake up and make a difference. In a visually stunning, hopeful, and often funny multimedia presentation, former Vice President Al Gore inspires us to courageously face the truth and work together on the task of our times.

Keynote
Jane Goodall, Ph.D., D.B.E.
Reason for Hope: The Antidote to Fear
It is easy to be overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness as we look around the world. Jane Goodall, who travels some 300 days a year to some of the world's darkest corners, believes there are reasons for hope. Goodall, the world's leading primatologist, is best known for her groundbreaking work with the chimpanzees of Gombe in Tanzania and as founder of the Jane Goodall Institute. The institute is a global organization that empowers people to create healthy ecosystems, promote sustainable livelihoods, and nurture new generations of committed, active citizens of all ages. In her keynote talk, Goodall shares her antidote to fear and despair with inspiring stories and demonstrates that, despite the darkness in our world, the sacredness of all life can prevail and it's up to each and every one of us to make a difference.

Deeksha: Awakening Into Oneness (B01)
Arjuna Ardagh, MA
Deeksha is the transmission of divine energy that affects the balance of activity in the brain, making it possible to have a spontaneous awakening into oneness. People generally experience deep inner stillness, greater presence, and causeless joy, and discover that these qualities stabilize over time. This workshop is a conversation with Arjuna Ardagh, who has recently completed a book and documentary film about deeksha. You also have the opportunity to receive deeksha from several experienced practitioners. CE credit available.

Radical Acceptance: Buddhist Practices for Healing Difficult Emotions (B02)
Tara Brach, PhD
One of the deepest forms of suffering in our culture is the pain of feeling that "something is wrong with me." Whether in the shape of chronic judgment, anxiety, depression, or addictive behavior, feelings of deficiency prevent us from living and loving fully. Buddhist mindfulness practices and heart meditations awaken us from the trance of unworthiness. These practices of radical acceptance relax the grip of our human insecurity and allow us to realize the loving awareness that is our very essence. CE credit available.

Bodies of Knowledge: Yoga, Fearlessness & the Body (B03)
Seane Corn
Negative body image can perpetuate fear and self-consciousness that limits our ability to be fully embodied and confident in our physical world. Exploring the attitudes of our families, media, and culture toward the “ideal” body helps us discover our own negative perceptions. This vinyasa flow yoga class, which is suitable for all levels, offers us the opportunity to explore the power of the physical form, to see its uniqueness and individuality, and to heal our belief systems that have been disempowering us from fully being in our bodies with acceptance and gratitude. CE credit available.

Empowerment: What Is It, Really & How Do We Practice It? (B04)
Gail Straub, David Gershon
In this workshop, Gail Straub and David Gershon bring substance back to the overused word "empowerment." They share their three-part empowerment model that includes shifting from a pathological to a visionary worldview; moving from static to organic growth; and integrating self-awareness with manifestation skills. They guide you in applying the model to your core beliefs about self-responsibility, self-esteem, trust in the universe, positive attitude, and the ability to flow with change. This process empowers you to realize your dreams. CE credit available.

The Red Coal (B05)
Natalie Goldberg
Natalie Goldberg writes: "One month after 9/11, I taught 80 very depressed New Yorkers in a writing workshop near the bombed site. What could I possibly say to help? I pulled out a favorite poem by Gerald Stern, author of The Red Coal, and the atmosphere was ignited. What is it you burn for as you walk your streets? Where has the hot coal taken your life? What can you say with vast affection?" In this workshop, with this renowned writer and teacher of writing, we do 10-minute timed writing practices to answer these questions. We also do short meditation practices. Please note: Bring pens and notebooks.

The Courage of Authenticity & Being Present (B06)
Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD
The Courage of Authenticity & Being Present As time moves faster and our lives become more rushed and stressed, we lose our deeper connection with ourselves and others. Striving to keep up with it all, we try to go faster, running on automatic too much of the time. This workshop, led by Stephan Rechtschaffen, a physician and cofounder of Omega, offers us an opportunity to stop, to come into our authentic self, and to notice what keeps us from being more present in our daily lives. Through discussion, meditation, and experiential exercises, we find wisdom and freedom in the pause. CE credit available.

Heaven & Earth: Making the Psychic Connection (B07)
James Van Praagh
Death is not the end of existence, nor is it something to be feared; there is indeed life beyond this physical world. Earth is only one part of a vast multidimensional universe. Spirit beings from other worlds are around us all the time. In this workshop, we learn how these spirits serve us all in many ways—as teachers, companions, creative inspiration, and protection. If we take the courage and look beyond our three-dimensional world, we realize that something greater exists.

The Root of Fearlessness (B08)
Iyanla Vanzant
Being fearless does not mean having no fear. Rather, it is the ability to acknowledge fear and find ways to support yourself as you move forward. The first step is the ability to recognize the root of the fear. This workshop is designed to facilitate clear, conscious recognition. The next step is to create and use powerful tools that support you and help navigate through the fear. CE credit available.

Past-Life Therapy: An Experiential Introduction (B09)
Brian Weiss, MD
For more than a decade Brian Weiss has been exploring past-life therapy as a way of treating anxiety, depression, and other difficulties. In this workshop, he teaches the basic techniques for going back in time to retrieve and release memories from childhood and before. Using regression exercises, healing visualizations, and intuitional and right-brain training, Weiss leads us on a journey of awakening that health-care professionals and lay people alike will find valuable. This deeply relaxing experience is healing, even for those who are skeptical about past lives. CE credit available.

Heart of a Buddha: Cultivating Forgiveness & Compassion (B10)
Tara Brach, PhD
If we are living with blame toward others or ourselves, our hearts are armored and genuine joy is out of reach. This workshop includes reflections and exercises that allow us to recognize the places in our life that are in need of forgiveness. We explore the Buddhist meditation practices that open our hearts and free us to love without holding back. CE credit available.

Bodies of Knowledge: Yoga, Fearlessness & Forgiveness (B11)
Seane Corn
Fear, blame, judgment, and victimization are as toxic to our physical body as poor diet and inertia. These attitudes of negative perception may contribute to disease and to a compromised sense of well-being. In this yoga class, which is suitable for all levels, we explore the healing potential of understanding, compassion, and forgiveness. This yoga sequence is designed to release physical and emotional tension, motivate our consciousness, and introduce spiritual themes that can be liberating to our soul. CE credit available.

Practices for Fearlessness from Tai Chi & Qigong (B12)
Michael Craft
It's one thing to talk about being fearless, but how do we actually feel it and live it? In this experiential session with Michael Craft, Omega's program director and a practitioner of qigong, tai chi, and Buddhist meditation since the 1970s, we explore gentle and powerful practices that expand energy, develop personal confidence, and maintain strong, fluid boundaries with others. These ancient exercises blend simple, flowing movements with calm, meditative awareness and help us build a base to move beyond our personal fears and blocks into a new kind of relaxed power. CE credit available.

The Seven Expressions of Greatness (B13)
Debbie Ford
You have most likely invested a lot of time and energy in finding happiness and contentment. You've cultivated balance and inner peace, and you've plumbed the depths of your inner world to find meaning and fulfillment. But beyond these essential pursuits, you know there is even more to reach for in life and inside yourself. What would it take you to live in the highest expression of yourself? What qualities would you need to embrace in order to fulfill your greatness? In this workshop, you learn the seven expressions of greatness—qualities that when applied to your daily life will bring an experience of emotional wholeness, divine connection, and the ability to be a source of profound inspiration in the world. CE credit available.

Art of Empowerment: Facilitating Human Potential (B14)
Gail Straub, David Gershon
In this workshop, we learn how to apply the four-part empowerment methodology developed by David Gershon and Gail Straub. Recognized as one of the most effective transformational technologies available, they have used this program over the last 25 years with thousands of practitioners to facilitate profound transformation at the personal, organizational, and societal levels. CE credit available.

The World Come Home (B15)
Natalie Goldberg
To create anything we must have quiet peace at our back; otherwise, we will burn up. Led by the renowned writer and teacher of writing, Natalie Goldberg, this combination of writing practice and sitting practice strengthens the power and direction of our intention at the same time as it develops a steady foundation. In 10-minute timed writing practices, we explore what we are thinking, what we are not thinking, what we remember, and, Goldberg says, "what the moon was like when we were 20." This workshop is open to anyone at any level of writing and sitting experience. Please note: Bring pens and notebooks.

Rumi & Sacred Activism (B16)
Andrew Harvey
In this workshop, we discover inspiration for what Andrew Harvey calls "sacred activism" in the poems of the mystic Jalalludin Rumi, whose poetry celebrates the transforming power of sacred passion and the necessity of accepting ordeal and heartbreak as part of the birth process of the divine human. Using Rumi's poetry, along with Sufi and Christian heart practices, we delve deep into his essential message and find inspiration for our time. Join us as we celebrate Rumi's 800th birthday in 2007, designated The Year of Rumi by UNESCO.

Dissecting Fear (B17)
Sam Keen, PhD
In this interactive workshop we discover if Franklin D. Roosevelt's statement, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," is indeed true. We explore the intricacies of fear and probe the idea of aspiring to be fearless, to be without anxiety, and to live without risk. We look at the role of fear in our lives, what fear means to us, and its significance in our culture and society. CE credit available.

Transforming Fears Into Action (B18)
John Perkins
In his New York Times best-selling book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins reveals a chilling tale of how he worked for an international consulting firm convincing less developed countries to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructure projects where most of the money went to American corporations. Motivated by 9/11, Perkins defied the code of silence that he had obeyed for nearly four decades, and wrote a book that many had warned him not to write. In this workshop, he tells his own story of moving beyond fear and guides us through an experiential journey to shapeshift our fears, raise our level of consciousness, and create a more balanced and compassionate world.

Community Gathering and Keynote
Caroline Myss, Elizabeth Lesser
Welcome From
Elizabeth Lesser

Keynote
Caroline Myss
Healing as a Mystical Experience
While we have established a model for healing that unites the forces of the body, mind, and spirit, we have emphasized the influence of our emotions and our attitudes on the quality of our health. The role of the spirit remains the most mysterious aspect of these three forces; yet, it is by far the most important. While the mind and the emotions may be the doorway to the spirit, the soul is a much deeper realm of power that is accessible only through prayer, self-reflection, and relentless inner work. When a complete healing occurs—not a remission, but a complete healing—it is often declared a miracle, but that is a word used when the power of the soul is not recognized. A true healing is first and foremost a mystical experience through which the soul embodies sufficient grace to transform a state of disease into a condition of health. Such a healing transcends the power of the mind or the emotions. This quality of healing embodies the mystery of the Divine in action.

Community Gathering and Keynote
Arianna Huffington
Keynote
Arianna Huffington
On Becoming Fearless in Life, Love & Work
Based on her latest book, On Becoming Fearless, Arianna Huffington takes a provocative look at how to succeed as a woman today, exploring fearlessness at work, in parenting, love, aging, and more. According to Huffington, "When we know who we are, in the spirit of our being, we overcome our fears and insecurities. We surpass our smaller selves who suffer—and submit to—the slings and arrows of our conditioned reality, and we move to the unconditional truth of our larger selves. The questions what to say, what to do, whom to let in, and whom to keep out become a clear and simple matter of listening to our hearts. Our radar—that inner voice—is attuned and helps us align with our purpose…. The voice is in there. But we need to listen to it. When we do that, we live in fearlessness."

Community Gathering and Keynote
Samdhong Rinpoche, Elizabeth Lesser
Welcome From
Elizabeth Lesser

Keynote
Samdhong Rinpoche
Compassion as the Source of Fearlessness: A Buddhist Viewpoint
The idea that compassion can be a source of fearlessness seems contrary in a world where courage is often synonymous with steeling one’s heart. But in this keynote Samdhong Rinpoche, the newly elected prime minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, tells us that Buddhism believes that the source of fearless is an open heart; that compassion and lovingkindness make us warriors for peace and the principles of nonviolence—both within ourselves and in the world.

Bodies of Knowledge: Yoga, Fearlessness & Service (C01)
Seane Corn
Yoga recognizes that we are all connected, sharing an infinite breath and a cosmic heartbeat. As we become fearlessly engaged in our own spiritual potential, a natural reaction is to turn that light outward toward our friends, families, and communities in a positive way. We recognize that if change is going to manifest, it will be up to each of us to create it. In this Vinyasa flow yoga class, which is suitable for all levels, we explore the theme of outreach, and how we can use our life experience and spiritual healing to be of service to others. CE credit available.

Spiritual Divorce: Endings as Catalysts for Extraordinary Beginnings (C02)
Debbie Ford
Divorce rocks your very foundation. Separation from someone you've loved or the loss of any close relationship is a horribly lonely time when feelings of anger, sadness, despair, and self-doubt can cloud your thinking and take the pleasure out of your days. But no matter how many times you've been disappointed, lied to, betrayed, or hurt in love, today you discover how to heal your heart and open up to love again. This workshop opens the door to a profound journey of emotional freedom and stunning new possibilities, whether your divorce or break-up happened two weeks or 20 years ago. You discover how to find the gifts in your pain and how to move from victim to victor, allowing your experience to become one of unimaginable gain rather than devastating loss. Today can be the start of a rejuvenated life and a new story of love where your divorce or break-up is actually the beginning of everything you have ever wanted.

Low Carbon Diet: Becoming Part of the Global Warming Solution (C03)
David Gershon
As Americans, we generate almost 10 percent of the planet's carbon dioxide emissions through our daily lifestyle practices. We are a large part of the problem of climate change, which means we can also be a large part of the solution if we learn how to reduce our carbon footprint. In this workshop, based on David Gershon's path-breaking book Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5,000 Pounds, we learn simple practices to apply in our home, workplace, and community.

Learn more about David Gershon's new book, Low Carbon Diet.

The Great Failure (C04)
Natalie Goldberg
We are always running after success with the fear of failure at our back. But who hasn't failed, been disappointed, or felt betrayed? Facing these obstacles brings us down to the ground so we can see things as they really are. When we avoid nothing, there is a boundless surrender. In the great failure, we find the great success. They are no longer different from one another. In this workshop, we do 10-minute timed writing practices to explore our regrets, blunders, and griefs, and to feel the grand exuberance of finally laying down our burden. We will also do short meditation practices. Please note: Bring pens and notebooks.

Sacred Activism & the Return of the Divine Feminine (C05)
Andrew Harvey
The divine feminine is the revolutionary energy of love in action. In all her purity, passion, power, and hunger for justice, the divine feminine is critical to saving our planet and flaming the fires of sacred activism. Drawing on Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, Christian, and Taoist sources, as well as his own innermost experience, Andrew Harvey shares 10 sacred suggestions for transforming the world. In addition, he provides us with five mystical practices and a seven-part body prayer to help us tap into the birthing energy of the divine mother.

Violence & Black Lace (C06)
Sam Keen, PhD
The American public has an insatiable appetite for the pornography of violence. In the virtual realm of the imagination, television, video games, and films entertain us daily with images of carnage, sadism, murder, and dramas in which the good guys visit bloody justice on the bad guys. In the real world of politics, we have accepted the necessity of preemptive war and the slaughter of thousands in pursuit of our goals of defeating terrorism and creating democracy in the Middle East and beyond. What is the source of this terrible fascination with violence and how can we see through the propaganda?

Broken Open: Overcoming Our Fear of Change, Loss & Death (C07)
Elizabeth Lesser
How strange that the nature of life is change, and yet the nature of human beings is to resist change. And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be. This experiential workshop is for people who want to explore their resistance to change, loss, and death. We use meditation, discussion, and guided visualization to uncover, feel, and release fear, grief, or cynicism. We discover how on the other side of our resistance to death is the ability to really live—be it the death of a dream, a job, a relationship, a loved one, or the body at the end of life. We confront our attachment to "the way it's supposed to be" and come to rest in the freedom of "the way it is." CE credit available.

Lovingkindness: An Antidote to Fear (C08)
Sharon Salzberg
Metta translates as friendship and also as gentle—as in a gentle rain that falls indiscriminately upon everything. Metta practice—also called the practice of lovingkindness—is a steady, unconditional sense of connection that touches all beings without exception, including ourselves. The Buddha first taught it as an antidote to fear. In this workshop, suitable for both new and experienced meditators, Sharon Salzberg introduces this teaching using the classical techniques of direct instruction and guided meditation in a modern idiom. There will also be opportunities for questions. CE credit available.

The Other Side: Past-Life Regression & Messages From Spirit - A Dialogue (C09)
Brian Weiss, MD, James Van Praagh
This is a rare opportunity to explore the greatest of human mysteries: life before birth and life after death. Brian Weiss, America's leading authority on past-life regression therapy, discusses techniques for accessing memories from childhood and prior lives to find healing in the present. James Van Praagh, a renowned spiritual leader and gifted medium, shares methods and exercises on how to develop your own intuition and how to recognize spirits around you. In this workshop, you experience an expansion of your mind, an opening of your heart, and a strengthening of your potential for healing. Come experience an open, interactive dialogue between the audience and these two leading voices.

The Deeper Love (C10)
Chameli Ardagh, Arjuna Ardagh, MA
Intimate relationship can sometimes seem like a distraction to an awakened life, and it can also be the very temple in which awakening can fully flower. Arjuna and Chameli Ardagh have discovered how to bring the divine to domestic life through simple and often humorous tools that they share. In this workshop, they provide tailor-made contemporary spiritual practices to bring both the sacred and a sense of the absurd to your personal life, especially to the places where you are stuck. This workshop is great for couples, singles, and anyone else interested in exploring intimate relationship. CE credit available.

Creating a Life-Long Love Affair (C11)
Debbie Ford
How would your life be different if, more often than not, you got out of bed in the morning feeling alive with possibilities and turned on by your dreams and desires? What would open up for you if you started each day feeling juicy, hot, sexy, and special—knowing that there is nobody else in the world like you? What would feeling that way bring into your life? Do you think you would have the career opportunities, financial abundance, and intimate love that you long for? Come with a journal, a pen, and a sweet thought, ready to create an internal environment where love can absolutely flourish. Get clear about how every choice you make can pave the way to your heart's fulfillment. And discover how creating a life-long love affair with yourself has the power to radically alter every area of your life. CE credit available.

Rumi & Sacred Activism (C12)
Andrew Harvey
In this workshop, we discover inspiration for what Andrew Harvey calls "sacred activism" in the poems of the mystic Jalalludin Rumi, whose poetry celebrates the transforming power of sacred passion and the necessity of accepting ordeal and heartbreak as part of the birth process of the divine human. Using Rumi's poetry, along with Sufi and Christian heart practices, we delve deep into his essential message and find inspiration for our time. Join us as we celebrate Rumi's 800th birthday in 2007, designated The Year of Rumi by UNESCO.

Freedom from Guilt & Fear (C13)
Yasuhiko Genku Kimura
Fear arises when our ego isn't aligned with our inner divinity, which is the source of love. Guilt is our ego's defense against the inner devastation caused by our erroneous notions of evil and sin. In this thought-provoking presentation, we come to understand the structure and inner workings of the ego relative to fear and guilt—an understanding that leads to permanent freedom from these emotions. CE credit available.

The Secret History of the American Empire & How to Shapeshift It (C14)
John Perkins
New York Times best-selling author, John Perkins, introduces his new book (June 2007 publication), The Secret History of the American Empire, and explains how transforming the empire will realize ancient prophecies. The Andean legend of the eagle and condor predicted that humankind could rise to higher levels of consciousness beginning in the first decade of this millennium—a prophecy similar to those of the Mayan, Bushmen, Zulus, Hopis, Tibetans, Siberians, and other cultures where Perkins trained as a shaman. In this experiential workshop he guides us on a shapeshifting journey into a future that children will be proud to inherit.

Fierce Compassion (C15)
Sharon Salzberg
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has stated, "My true religion is kindness." Although frequently denigrated in our culture as simplistic and weak, the quality of kindness has an inherent power to transform our worldview from one of fear and isolation to one rooted in clarity, courage, and compassion. This workshop explores the powerful, sometimes fierce, side of kindness, known in the teachings as wrathful compassion. Through talks, guided meditations, and question-and-answer sessions, Sharon Salzberg explores the terrain of right intention, right speech, and right action in the everyday challenge of bringing together compassion, honesty, strength, and balance. CE credit available.

Heaven & Earth: Making the Psychic Connection (C16)
James Van Praagh
Death is not the end of existence, nor is it something to be feared; there is indeed life beyond this physical world. Earth is only one part of a vast multidimensional universe. Spirit beings from other worlds are around us all the time. In this workshop, we learn how these spirits serve us all in many ways—as teachers, companions, creative inspiration, and protection. If we take the courage and look beyond our three-dimensional world, we realize that something greater exists.

Sacred Strength (C17)
Iyanla Vanzant
How do we know when we are being guided or inspired or when the Divine is ordering our steps? In this workshop, you learn how to recognize your true inner voice and how to honor divine guidance in the face of contrary external evidence. Sacred strength is more than a step to being fearless; it is a movement of the soul that leads to your destiny. CE credit available.

Same Soul, Many Bodies: Tapping Into the Power of Fearlessness (C18)
Brian Weiss, MD
This workshop, based on Brian Weiss's book, Same Soul, Many Bodies, explores the latest in hypnotic regression and progression therapy to find a new level of healing for our bodies, minds, spirits, and relationships. Using experiential techniques, including regression exercises, future progressions, visualizations, and intuitional and right-brain training, Weiss shows us how to harness the power of love, understanding, and fearlessness, and how to use this power to transform our lives and ourselves. This workshop is valuable for both healthcare professionals and lay people. CE credit available.

Closing and Keynote
Nora Ephron, Elizabeth Lesser
Closing Comments From
Elizabeth Lesser

Keynote
Nora Ephron
I Feel Bad About My Neck: Reflections from a Writer's Life
Named one of “the 25 Most Powerful Women in America” by Biography magazine, writer Nora Ephron approaches her various roles as mother, wife, ex-wife, journalist, screenwriter, director, author, and social critic, with fearless humor, absolute candor, tenacious wit, and a bit of generosity. In this keynote address, she shares with us insights from her latest book, the #1 New York Times best-seller, I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. Unafraid to say things others won't say, she highlights the tribulations of getting older and dealing with maintenance, menopause, an empty nest, and life itself.